China’s Plan to Surround Australia

China is conquering nations across the South Pacific. It is building huge infrastructure projects in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

It is also lending these nations huge sums on money. The Chinese government knows these nations are too poor to pay the money back, but it lends the money because it wants these nations in its debt. When they default on their loans, China will be able to seize infrastructure as collateral—and turn it to military use. This strategy is called “debt-trap” diplomacy.

Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands sit astride the most vital shipping lanes in Australasia. If China is able to militarize these shipping lanes, it will be able to isolate Australia and become master of the South Pacific.

Both history and biblical prophecy show why this is extremely dangerous.

Strategic Trade Routes

Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands were all once part of the British Empire. During World War ii, the Japanese empire invaded both Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Some of the bloodiest battles of last century were fought over coral atolls and volcanic outcrops in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese sought to conquer these specks on the map because they were located along the main trade arteries between Asia and Australia.

Now China is attempting to succeed where Japan failed by using debt-trap diplomacy instead of kamikaze fighters. If China can leverage its economic ties into airfields and naval bases, it will have Australia almost surrounded.

Three of Australia’s five main trade routes pass by nations being economically colonized by China.

Australia’s trade with the United States passes by Fiji, its trade with Japan passes by the Solomon Islands, and its trade with Europe passes by Papua New Guinea. A 2016 Defense White Paper makes Australia’s predicament clear: “Australia cannot be secure if our immediate neighborhood, including Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Pacific Island countries, becomes a source of threat to Australia. This includes the threat of a foreign military power seeking influence in ways that could challenge the security of our maritime approaches ….”

By conquering South Pacific nations, China is preparing to economically besiege Australia.

Loss of Sea Gates

At one time, the English-speaking peoples controlled virtually every maritime choke point and sea gate on the planet. How did these nations grow to dominate global trade to such an extent?

In his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, Herbert W. Armstrong explained that it all began with a promise made to the patriarch Abraham. God promised to give Abraham’s descendants control over the “gates” of their enemies (Genesis 22:17). A gate is a narrow passage of entrance or exit. When speaking nationally, a “sea gate” is a narrow choke point like the Torres Strait. God gave Britain and America those commercial gates, ensuring that they would become economic and military superpowers. But God also warned that if America and Britain did not obey Him, then those sea gates would not only be taken away, but used against them (Deuteronomy 28:52).

The fact that China is making inroads into territories once used by America and Britain to win World War ii shows how close this prophecy is to being fulfilled.